USCIRF Delegation Travels to Kazakhstan to Assess Religious Freedom Conditions

Washington, DC - The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Commissioner Nury Turkel and staff traveled to Almaty and Astana, Kazakhstan from May 22-26 to meet with government officials, religious communities, human rights defenders, and other civil society representatives to discuss persistent religious freedom concerns.

“We appreciate the Kazakh government’s continued willingness to engage with international partners, including USCIRF, on religious freedom issues and potential reforms. The Kazakh government must revise its laws and policies restricting this right, such as by repealing or minimizing administrative punishments for various religious ‘offenses,’” said USCIRF Commissioner Turkel. “We will continue to advocate for the United States government to press Kazakhstan to take bolder and more significant steps to bring its current practices in line with international human rights standards.”

Kazakhstan continues to restrict religious activities through a prohibitive religion law, suppress groups and individuals perceived as following “nontraditional” religions, and uphold a state-sanctioned version of Islam that precludes differing interpretations. Authorities have penalized hundreds of individuals with fines for their religious activities and have imprisoned at least ten Muslims on unsubstantiated charges related to social media posts on Islam. The government has also prohibited schoolgirls from attending class with religious head coverings.

“Institutional issues in Kazakhstan remain unaddressed. For example, the Kazakh government continues to arbitrarily apply an overly broad criminal code, resulting in unduly severe prison sentences for online religious activities, particularly of Muslim men. In addition, government surveillance of seemingly all religious communities creates widespread fear that authorities could target anyone, at any time, for ‘violating’ the religion law,” continued Commissioner Turkel. “We call for Kazakhstan to release all those imprisoned due to their religious activities or beliefs immediately.”

Since 2013, USCIRF has recommended Kazakhstan for inclusion on the U.S. Department of State’s Special Watch List or listed it as a “Tier 2” country for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom. Recent USCIRF reporting highlighted these concerns in an Issue Update on Kazakhstan’s Religion Law Amendments, a report on Tolerance, Religious Freedom, and Authoritarianism, and a podcast on Religious Prisoners of Conscience in Kazakhstan.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].

USCIRF Delegation Travels to Vietnam to Assess Religious Freedom Conditions

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie and Commissioner Eric Ueland traveled with staff to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from May 15-19 to meet with government officials, religious communities, and other civil society representatives to discuss religious freedom concerns.

“We welcomed the opportunity to discuss Vietnam’s religious freedom issues with Vietnamese government officials, as well as with both registered and unregistered religious communities,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie. “While USCIRF acknowledges the incremental improvements in religious freedom that Vietnam has made over the years, we continue to identify significant and worsening trouble spots. We are particularly concerned about the increased incidents of forced renunciation of faith in the past year, the restrictive nature of the Law on Belief and Religion, its complex and burdensome registration requirements, and the inconsistent and uneven application of the law across the country. We urge the U.S. government to engage its Vietnamese counterpart to encourage amending this law and the implementing decrees to conform to international standards, including by making registration simpler and optional.”

Among other concerns, the Vietnamese government issued two draft religion decrees in June 2022 to implement the Law on Belief and Religion. Experts warn that the two draconian decrees, if passed in their current form, could further restrict religious freedom in Vietnam. Authorities also continue to detain and imprison religious prisoners of conscience—including renowned Hoa Hao Buddhist and religious freedom activist Nguyen Bac Truyen. Former religious prisoners of conscience continue to report poor prison conditions.  

“The United States and Vietnam have made great strides in their bilateral relations over the past two decades, spanning many areas of cooperation including, trade, security, and people-to-people ties. This growing relationship, however, cannot realize its fullest potential without respect for religious freedom under international obligations committed to by the government of Vietnam,” said Commissioner Eric Ueland. “USCIRF urges the U.S. government to press Vietnam to allow relevant U.N. Special Procedures unfettered access to the country to investigate religious freedom violations.”

Since 2002, USCIRF has recommended Vietnam’s designation as a “Country of Particular Concern,” or CPC, finding that despite some notable areas of improvement, “systematic, ongoing, and egregious” violations of religious freedom have persisted. In November 2022, the U.S. Department of State placed Vietnam on its Special Watch List for having engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom. USCIRF also highlighted these concerns in a May 2022 country update.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion or belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].